ORLANDO, Fla. – Brad Stevens still doesn’t have an offensive strategy planned for his first season as Boston Celtics head coach. He wants to know everything he can about his roster first. He plans to watch game film and pore over numbers so he can fully understand his team’s strength and weaknesses before deciding how to proceed. He’s taking a measured approach, like, after listening to him speak a few times, one imagines he does in all facets of his life.

One play he won’t find often on tape: Rookie Kelly Olynyk acting as the ball-handler in a pick and roll setting. But that’s how the Celtics used him during one possession in Wednesday’s 85-78 loss to the Houston Rockets. Olynyk started on the left wing, dribbled around a pick from center Colton Iverson, and ended the play with a perfect assist to a cutting Tony Mitchell near the basket. It’s not often you find two 7-footers running a pick and roll. The play call by assistant coach Jay Larranaga, who’s leading the summer league entry, was experimental. It was funky. And it worked, showing off another skill of Olynyk’s.

“No, not really at all,” the rookie said when asked if he ever ran pick and rolls in college. But he looked comfortable doing it, and he said he felt that way too. “It’s something that you just have to have that ball control and vision to play pick and roll, and it’s a different look. It’s sometimes real tough to guard having two bigs do that. It’s a different look. The coaches put me in that situation, I just tried to take it head-on.”

One gets the feeling the Celtics have tinkered with their lineups just to gauge the full extent of Olynyk’s (obvious) versatility. They’ve had him operate in the post, they’ve had him come around pindown screens normally used by smaller players, they’ve used him in flare screens designed to result in a 3-point shot. They tried one lineup Wednesday featuring him at small forward, alongside two other 7-footers (Iverson and Fab Melo). He's scored on up-and-unders in the post, spin moves on the perimeter, and coast to coast drives. During the first quarter Wednesday, he finished two left-handed and-ones in traffic. (Note: If it sounds like I'm gushing, I'm just trying to explain his varied offensive game. I understand he'll face better competition once games matter more, and some aspects of his repertoire could be limited by improved defense.)

Through four games, Olynyk's averaging 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 57.4 percent from the field. He’s taken 12 shots from behind the arc – which doesn’t really catch your attention until you realize he’s a 7-footer who took just 1.6 jump shots per game last season, according to DraftExpress.com. The Celtics aren’t just using Olynyk in the same fashions he used to make first team All-American as a redshirt junior at Gonzaga; they’re testing the boundaries of his powers, and he hasn’t really slipped up yet.

It remains to be seen exactly how Olynyk’s summer success will translate in the regular season, but the Celtics should be able to expand their offensive options because of his inside-out ability. They might not run too many pick and rolls with him once the season starts, but his shooting and ball-handling should allow them to try different looks.

“I’m sure coach Stevens will have a lot of ideas of the best way to utilize him,” said Larranaga. “And because of his skill, there are a lot of options.”

The Celtics want Olynyk to shoot from the outside whenever he’s open, and Stevens said he believes the long-haired big man’s stroke can become a real weapon. Olynyk missed all five 3-pointers he attempted Wednesday, but had hit 3-7 combined in the three prior contests and continues to show range both inside and outside the arc. Possibly relevant to the 22-year old’s rough outside shooting Wednesday: It was his fourth straight day playing a basketball game, the first time he could ever remember so many consecutive game days. But even if fatigue played a factor in some of the misses, Olynyk wants to keep building his outside shot.

“I really need to make sure my shot’s real consistent, so that’s something I’m personally going to work on a lot,” he said. “And then just getting more athletic – bigger, faster, stronger. Whatever else they want me to work on, I will.”

Olynyk’s been the toast of Orlando, already being hailed as the "best player" in the summer league by ESPN's Truehoop blog. Yet asked about his versatility, he reminded that his regular season role still hasn’t been determined.

“I’m hoping it (his versatility) helps a lot, and I’m hoping it opens up some stuff for other guys to operate, to maneuver,” he said. “Hopefully it gets me on the court a little more.”